Dan Martin Email & Phone Number

Brisbane City, Qld, Au

Port Macquarie, New South Wales, Australia

Zone substations engineeringConnecting up solar farms, BESS and electric vehicles to substations Managing specifications for new assetsFAT test witnessing and acceptanceSupplier and contract managementTechnical authority for responding to queries from field staffManage maintenance policiesMonitor asset performanceInvestigating condition based replacement techniques

Auckland, New Zealand

I was elected into this volunteer role by the CIGRE NZ executive in Feb 2022.Updated workflow processes to manage CIGRE NZ's financial position.Form budgets to support CIGRE NZ's vision of growth.Provide regular updates to the executive on financial position.Manage financial side of CIGRE NZ in accordance with the Incorporated Societies register of Customs house, and the society rules documents.Track income and expenditure.

Auckland, New Zealand

This is a voluntary role, where I was tasked by CIGRE NZ to set up the transformers and reactors panel. I organise regular meet-ups and symposiums, to promote networking between engineers with an interest in transformers. I apply project management practices to ensure good planning for events and their smooth running. Please find more information in the attached newsletter.

Auckland, New Zealand

Lead, manage and deliver strategic substation & transformer innovation projects. Adherence to good project management practices. Investigate how grids will need to change as the community wishes to connect EVs, rooftop PV and batteries - Advise clients monitoring, analytics & control methods.Seek opportunities to expand ETEL's business in new technologies and products.Research and recommend new products, technologies or services that ETEL could potential market and sell.Liaise with existing customers to understand future engineering needs and propose solutions.Provide technical leadership.Actively manage and complete innovation projects, collaborating with other departments to deliver a myriad of novel market-fit solutions.Work together with early adopter customers to implement the solutions in various electricity networks (New Zealand, Australia and other Asia Pacific regions).Collaborate with external researchers, universities and innovative companies to develop novel solutions which will generate new revenue for ETEL.Investigate complex technical issues and support root cause analysis,Lead projects which will result in internal engineering improvements.For the attached article I was asked by the IEEE to write an editorial on my transition into an industrial role, detailing the importance of considerations on how transformer operation and utilization will change into the future.Training courses on Coursera:Value Chain Management Specialization - University of Illinois at Urbana-ChampaignThe Manager's Toolkit: A Practical Guide to Managing People at Work - University of LondonEngineering Project Management Specialization - Rice UniversityElectric Industry Operations and Markets - Duke UniversityElectric Utilities Fundamentals and Future - University of Colorado Matrix Algebra for Engineers - Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

St Lucia, Brisbane

I was promoted to senior lecturer in 2019. My management style was collegiate with members of engineering faculty. I established my vision for new substation technology in networks undergoing change from renewables, led my research agenda and managed stakeholder relationships with partner organisations. I supervised thesis projects and PhD students on my research agenda, applying sound project management practices. I taught and coordinated courses on electrical engineering at UQ, managing the course and tutorial staff. My focus was about modelling substation asset utilization and management, collaborating with the local utilities and industry. Project direction & plan was set by approaching industry, hearing their views, setting vision then arranging resource. I created materials for seminars and CPD. 30% of my time was working on projects for a German transformer component manufacturer. I was responsible for management of my R&D work, collaborators and liaising with industry stakeholders. Major engineering outputs:1) Led the Australian and New Zealand power transformer failure survey, which resulted in a statistical model to evaluate risks of ongoing operation and fires. One research associate.2) Produced a report on retrofilling aspects of transformers and ester fluids using a 0.5 MVA test transformer.3) Liaised with other members of staff to set up & complete the first phase of a project to ascertain the impact of solar farms on transformer life, in conjunction with Essential Energy and Ergon Energy.4) Collaborated with Essential Energy to review the long-term performance of their natural ester fluid power transformers, operational since 2005.5) Created mathematical models for substations to investigate the impact of new customer technologies such as rooftop PV, EVs and batteries.6) Collaborated with power quality experts to understand impacts of inverters on transformers & cables.Many of my project outputs have been published in journals & magazines.

Brisbane, Australia

Sustainable operation of transformers. How do we make them last longer?I approached industry with ideas on R&D projects which was then clarified into a business case and project plan. Among these were: Use of fibre optics to measure transformer water content (a follow-on from my previous project). I supervised a PhD and several undergrad thesis projects to develop this. The outcome was a much better understanding of the dynamics of water inside a transformer and its behaviour, used to update industry tools.Managed the Australian power transformer failure survey, by collaborating with many utilities in Australia and New Zealand. The aim was to carry on from the CIGRE 2015 power transformer reliability study. This involved adhering to the highest ethical standards in handling confidential utility data on why transformers failed. The outcome was a statistical tool that the industry can use to determine the probability of transformer failure. Two papers on statistics were awarded 'best papers of the conference' at the PES general meeting. Several seminars were given to industry on the findings. I supervised a research associate on this project to develop software tools.I led a project in conjunction with Essential Energy to analyse the in-service operation of vegetable oil filled power transformers. The outcome was that the utility could update their asset management policies as they had much better understanding.All the above work required sound project management practices and stakeholder management. Regular meetings were held with the partners to discuss outcomes, and next steps. This assured that the deliverables were correct.In 2015 and 2017 I lectured, coordinated and managed staff for the course ELEC7051 on transformer design and technology at UQ. This involved updating lectures, and also working to deliver tutorials and workshops by managing course staff. I also supervised a series of student thesis projects on energy systems.

Brisbane, Australia

This was a follow on from my work at Monash about transformer life prediction. The models we published required a measure of insulation water content. I was funded by Energex, Ergon Energy, Powerlink Queensland and TransGrid to investigate different techniques to do this, and develop new ones where there were gaps in understanding.I led and managed this project to trial different water measurement techniques, by firstly experimenting in the laboratory and then conducting field trials in substations. This required a large level of stakeholder management with the supporting utilities, such as where to place the probes in a safe manner. Outputs were: presentations on water measurement and management, technical reports, mathematical models, software tools, IEEE journals and magazines, Techcon paper, and discussions on the relative advantages and disadvantages of different methods. This know-how was licensed by UQ and commercialised into Aurtra.Several projects were run in conjunction. One was to improve the models which are used to determine the water content of paper of a transformer, where both the temperature gradient between the winding and oil, and the impact of non-equilibrium conditions were investigated. Another was to model the ageing of transformer cellulosic paper was extensively tested which led to a more accurate model than the current IEC and IEEE ones. This model takes into account more variables, specifically water and oxygen, whereas the previous ones do not. A utility is now able to estimate the affect that their maintenance strategy has on remaining life.I worked with the utilities to plan and set up the required monitoring on their transformers, and observed how such a tool would work for industry. The developed algorithms were extensively tested on the utilities’ transformers over a year with the results verified against comparable measurements. Feedback from various engineering and field technical staff was sought to improve the tool.

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Led industry funded projects into improving the management of transformers. Our focus was on helping the funding utilities reliably and safely run ageing units.Duties included working with the funding industry to identify the projects which would bring major value to their business, and reporting on progress.Managed a small team of 3 researchers. Liaised with university and department admin, HR, OHS, finance, legal etc.Team delivered a model to help the utilities determine the life remaining of a transformer, from the condition of its insulation.Student related activities involved running a programme where final year bachelor and postgrad students had the opportunity to work on industrial projects for their thesis. This was set up to give them an opportunity to have an insight into the practical problems that engineers resolve every day.Lectured control between 2010 and 2012, which included performing the general admin duties required for the running of the course.

Worked on research projects developing condition monitoring technologies for transformer users.Focused on vegetable and mineral oil dielectrics, as part of a larger team working on insulation coordination aspects of transformers.Led consultancy projects to help the utilities switch to using vegetable oil filled transformers.

Developed electroacoustic hardware for communication systems.

Masters Of Engineering Project Management, Engineering/Industrial Management, First Class Honours

Project Management Bodies of Knowledge Project, Programme and Portfolio Management Management Skills for Project Professionals Research.

Phd, Electrical And Electronics Engineering

Investigated the suitability of vegetable oils and synthetic esters for replacing the mineral oil used in power transformers.

Beng (Honours), Electrical And Electronic Engineering

Included a study year at the engineering department of Fachhochschule Darmstadt, Germany.

A Levels Chemistry, Electronics And Physics